Beats me, Burke. I'm not too fond of the color scheme of the phonetic version either. And your point about standing out is well taken, too.

There is a link on the WNGGA Homepage for the 2002 National Gymanfa Ganu in Harrisburg. Just follow it to reach the page with all the details, including links to Harrisburg's own site and to the sites for the hotels providing accomodations. The National is always held over the Labor Day weekend, and the date of the Gymanfa Ganu itself is 1 September, 2002. We'll be happy to have you.

For those unfamiliar with a Gymanfa Ganu (singing festival), it is a Welsh cultural tradition which arose in the early 1840s as the Chapels' response to combat the upswing in alcohol abuse brought on by the delights of the Industrial Revolution - 12 to 14 hour days in the coal pits (mines) and iron and steel mills, 6 year old children of both sexes working down the pits and in the mills, etc. Of course, these deplorable conditions weren't exclusive to Wales, they just got an earlier start there because that's where the IR first hit its full stride. In any case the Chapels began to have Cymanfoedd (plural) to keep people out of the pubs. Congregations would gather and engage in hymn singing for hours on end.

The National GG today preserves that tradition and it is still alive in Wales too, in spite of the fact that the Chapels have fallen on hard times. On the Sunday of Labor Day weekend people of Welsh background (or just interested people, - you don't have to be Welsh) gather to sing. There are two sessions - afternoon and evening - for a total of about 6 hours of great sound and that good old Welsh "hwyl" that Sian mentioned ("the spiritual flow generated by true religious sentiment" and just plain old beautiful music). Attendance should be about 2000 singers in Harrisburg.

Part of the weekend (Friday evening) is devoted to a banquet and (Saturday evening) a concert by (usually) a Male Voice Choir. This year's group will be the Brythoniad Male Voice Choir from the slate mining region of Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales.

Starting to sound like a commercial again, but what the heck, a little information never hurts. Never can tell who might be interested!!

Dave W.